The aim of this article is to present the issue of intention, which accompanies a perpetrator committing a crime under art. 148 § 4 of the penal code – homicide under the influence of intense agitation justified by the circumstances. The content discusses the specifics of this crime, referring both to the explanation of the concept of strong agitation (affect) and to the approximation of views on the circumstances that may justify acting in this state. The subject of the further part of the article is to explain the specificity of different forms of intention which are known to the Polish criminal law. The analysis includes direct intention (dolus directus), eventual intention (dolus eventualis), sudden intention (dolus repentinus) and premeditated intention (dolus premeditatus). The views of both representatives of criminal law and a wealth of judicial decisions are presented, which relate to attempts to clarify whether it is possible to commit the offence of art. 148 § 4 of the penal code in each of the mentioned intentions, and if so, how the mental processes of the perpetrator of this offence are shaped in each of these situations and what motivation may accompany it.

Rape myths can be defined as prejudicial, stereotyped or false beliefs about rape, rape victims, and rapists, and they include common opinions whereby women mean “yes” when they say “no”; women provoke rape; if a woman does not want to be raped, she will just fight back at any cost. These pervasive social attitudes can have a detrimental effect on victims of sexual violence, especially when employed by authorities during official proceedings. As such, this article aims at analyzing to what extent rape myths affect the perception of victims of sexual violence during the official proceedings on the example of the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Thus the first part explains the notion of rape myths, while the second part provides an analysis of the jurisprudence of the ECHR. Lastly, the final part suggests new approach to cases concerning sexual violence.

The institution of voluntary submission to liability is extremely practical and beneficial for both parties to proceedings in cases involving tax offenses. It is a solution that allows for a quick conclusion of the case. Importantly, this kind of conclusion results from negotiations and, consequently, from an agreement between the perpetrator and the financial body of the preparatory proceedings. Consensual elements in the current model of penal policy are a unique but an already permanent feature in the catalog of tools used by fiscal penal law. From the observation and practice of applying this institution, it can be concluded that this criminal law structure brings tangible benefits for a broadly understood administration of justice. Grzegorz Skowronek’s article offers an analysis of regulations, with particular emphasis on the conciliatory nature of this procedure.

Michał Arsoba presents the beginning of criminology in Russia in the period before the Revolution of 1905 in terms of a general historical and legal overview. His aim is to locate 19th-century Russian criminological thought in the global context of this discipline and to identify its major achievements within the international context. For this reason, Arsoba highlights three stages of the development of reflection on criminal law. The first stage concerns the views of Aleksander Radiszczew and the first publications on statistical research. The second stage includes the first legal act on prevention and the first criminal code. The third stage focuses on the emergence of the sociological school represented by Michaił Duchowski and Ivan Fojnicki and the anthropological school, represented by Dymitr Dril. Arsoba argues that Russian criminology as a discipline stems mainly from the field of criminal law, acting as its isolated reflection from legal sciences. It has its own
achievements, manifested by the realization of ideas contained in the preventive act and criminal code, as well as making the contribution to the development of the global sociological and anthropological research. Furthermore, it can be said that Russia saw the occurrence of symbolical, ground-breaking moments for the criminological thought globally, aspects of which pioneered in that country.